Despite what everyone thought and what some hoped, Research in Motion (RIM) is not yet ready to abandon the smartphone game that brought the company so many reasons of joy in the (not so distant) past.

Gartner’s report on Q3 2012 reveals that worldwide smartphones sales are up nearly 50 percent on the same quarter last year. We all know who sold most of them right? Samsung and Apple account for 46.5 percent of the smartphone market and the Android platform claimed a 72.4 percent market share.

Roughly three years ago, Research in Motion was the biggest name in the mobile industry, holding a sweet 50% share in the smartphone market. Apple and Android’s fantastic progresses, but also RIM’s creative slump and inability to keep with the times made BlackBerries a thing of the past, and now all they can dream is to get to the bronze medal before Microsoft.

Research in Motion (RIM) is going to launch a brand spanking new smartphone platform called “BlackBerry 10″ during the first quarter of 2013. The company’s CEO, Thorsten Heins, just published a letter saying that the platform is currently being tested by over 50 operators. He also says that when he shows operators the new platform, their response is “tremendous”.